Whole Foods raises profit outlook, will add more stores

Whole Foods Market, Inc., reported a 35 percent surge in quarterly earnings and raised its 2011 profit forecast, boasting that it will accelerate store openings as it gains customers from other food retailers.

“We are continuing to gain market share at a faster rate than most public food retailers,” Robb said in the statement. The company is “continuing to raise the bar in areas that matter to our customers,” including quality standards and health and wellness, he said.

Traditional supermarket chains have struggled to emerge from the 2008-09 recession, with many of their middle- to lower-income customers squeezed by persistently high unemployment and soaring gasoline prices. Whole Foods has fared better, its more affluent customers willing to pay higher prices for organic milk, grass-fed beef and other foods.

Whole Foods, based in Austin, Tex., said comparable-store sales during the three months ended July 3 rose 8.4 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.